All five Gloucester players in the England Under-20s squad have been named as replacements for their World Rugby U20 Championship opener against Samoa in Georgia on Wednesday.

Scrum-half Harry Randall is one of two players in the matchday squad who was part of last year’s Championship winning team – the other is Max Malins - and he is joined on the bench by Gloucester Academy props Ciaran Knight and Alex Seville, hooker Henry Walker and Joe Mullis, who looks set to provide back row cover.

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Former Chosen Hill School pupil Mullis previously operated as a flanker before being transformed into a hooker. London Irish fly-half Theo Brophy Clews captains the side, while Harlequins’ Dino Lamb, capped eight times at England Under 18 level, makes his debut in the second row.

After missing out on England’s U20 Six Nations Grand Slam through injury, Saracens’ Ali Crossdale returns to make his debut on the wing.

Head coach Ian Vass says he is expecting a tough, physical battle from Samoa.

Ian Vass

“We’ve picked a team we believe can do a job against Samoa, bearing in mind it’s a long tournament and everyone is going to have to play at some point,” said Vass.

“Samoa have a lot of talented individual players who can run and score from anywhere on the field. They are very strong physically, carrying and tackling.”

The squad arrived in Tbilisi on Saturday and Vass says the side are eager to get the tournament started. He added: “We want to see the lads put into practice everything we’ve been working on with them since before Christmas.

“We want to see them playing together as a team and defending as a team also working as hard as they can. If they do that then we have some good players who can make things happen. Really we just want them to put in a performance they can be pleased with.”

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Tour captain Zach Mercer is also named in the starting line-up, playing at number eight for England on Wednesday, and Vass says he expects the Bath forward to lead by example on Wednesday.

“Zach is one of more experienced players; he played in the tournament last year and has played a lot of Premiership games this year,” he said.

“He talks a lot to the team and leads by example with his actions on the field."

Vass, Louis Deacon and Tom Williams continue as England’s coaching team in Georgia, having joined the management as part of a new agreement with Premiership Rugby in which club coaches lead and develop the U20s while gaining experience in an international environment.

England will face familiar faces in their second fixture when they come up against Wales on Sunday 4 June.

Australia, who were in England’s pool last year, are the opposition for their final pool game on Thursday 8 June.